Improvement in buffer-heads and draw-bars for railway-cars



J. T; WILSON.

Car Coupling.

No. 113,608. Patented April 11. 1871.

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JOHN T. WILSON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, WILLIAM1). BERRY, AND JOHN A. COURTNEY, OF SAME PLACE.

lMPROVEMENT IN BUFFER-HEADS AND DRAW-BARS FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 113,608, dated April11, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. WILsoN, of Pittsburg, inthe county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Buffer-Heads and Draw-Bars for Gar-Couplings 5and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1represents, in perspective, a pair of buffer-heads and draw-barsconstructed after my plan, and linked together as in use. Fig. 2represents a top plan of the same, and Fig. 3 represents a longitudinalvertical section through said buffer-heads and draw-bars.

Similar letters of reference, where they ocour in the separate figures,denote like parts of the contrivance in the drawing.

My invention consists, first, in pivoting the buffer-heads to thedraw-bars so that the former may swing or play horizontally upon thelatter, and so yield when one buffer-head comes up against its mate orfellow; and my invention further consists in so constructing the lateralarms of the buffer-heads, by which they are linked together, as that thelink may be removed when the cars are on a curve, and may bear againstthe draw-bolt to prevent it from jumping out, and be shifted to take uplost motion between the buffer-heads.

In a patent heretofore granted to me-viz., July 19, 1869-the links werepassed over horizontal arms extending each way from the buffer-heads butin this construction it was difficult to take off the links or uncouplewhen the cars stood on a curve, and as there was little or no strainupon the draw-bolts they were liable to jump out. These objections areovercome in my present invention.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawing.

The buffer-heads A are hinged or pivoted to the draw'bars B, as at a, sothat the buffers may swing or play horizontally on the drawbars. Thefaces of the buffer-heads, as at b, are in the arc of a circle, of whichthe pivot to is the center, and these two faces are almost injuxtaposition, so as to bring the platforms of the cars close together,and when one car jams up against the next one the buffer-heads rollagainst each other, and one or both may yield laterally to take up anyjar and dispense with any springs.

From the buffer-heads A project laterally and horizontally arms 0 (I,both above and below, and the top and bottom plates of the buffer-headsare riveted together, as at e e.

The links f f, one on each side and one on top, and the other, if sopreferred, on the under side, pass over these arms, being secured to oneby a permanent rivet or bolt, 0, and held to the other by the draw-boltg,- and said links, when the draft or strain is on, though drawing bythe arms a d, would slip off from the one, 0, were it not for thedraw-bolt f, against which it is pressed. This is so arranged, in part,that when the cars are standing upon a curve they may be readily uncoupled.

That there may be little or no lost motion between the buffer-heads,(the modern plan being to keep them in contact,) I provide one or moresets of bolt-holes, 'i, into which the draw-boltf may be put, and sotake up all slack, shackle, or lost motion,

The double couplings, one at each side, make the security greater, andavoid the necessity of the employs getting in between the cars toconnect the couplings, and the close couplin gs avoid all liability ofany one falling between the platforms. V

It may sometimes be necessary to couple temporarily with the ordinarylink and bolts, and for this purpose an extra link, an, may be carried;or a link may be held by bolts passing through the holes a n in thebuffer-heads, and through slotted arcs 0 o in the draw-bar plates, sothat the buffers may still swing horizontally when they come together.

The draw-bar plates extend to nearly the fronts of the buffer-heads, asseen by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and they may be recessed to let inthe buffer-head plates, and a plain or a rule-joint hinged connectionmay be used between the bufferheads and the draw-bars, so as to admit ofthe lateral or horizontal play of the buffer-heads, as described. I

The faces of the buffer-heads being in the are of a circle of which thehinged. joint a is the center, the contact-point of the two bufierheads,when together, will always be radial to the centers of motion, and thestrain will be directly on the hinge-joint, and to save the pivots thelugs 12 of the buffer-plates beyond the pivot move in shoulderedrecesses.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In couplings for railroad-cars, the combination of the curvedbuffer-heads with the hinged joints between said buffer-heads and thedraw-bars, when said buHer-heads are curved in the arc of a circle ofwhich the pivots a a are the centers, and when the hinged joints betweenthe buffer-heads and the drawbars are so arranged as to allow thebufferheads to move or play laterally upon the drawbars, as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In combination with the buffer-heads of car-couplings, the lateralarms 0 d, links f, rivets e, and draw-bolts g, when the arms 0 c of thepairs are so made as that the links shall draw on said arms andagainst'said draw-bolts, as and for the purpose herein described.

JOHN T. WVILSON.

Witnesses:

A. B. STOUGHTON, EDMUND MAssoN.

